Why Dhurandhar Was Not Chosen for Oscars Despite Its Blockbuster Run

Instead, the Marathi film Gondhal has been selected as India’s official entry for the Oscars. Viveck Vaswani, a member of the jury that selected the film for the Academy Awards, has now explained why Dhurandhar was not chosen.

According to Viveck Vaswani, who spoke to NDTV, the jury did not consider Dhurandhar and Dhurandhar 2 suitable contenders for the Oscars. He said the jury expected the film representing India as its official entry to present Indian culture in a particular manner, which it felt was not reflected in these two films.

Dhurandhar received only four votes from the 14-member jury. Vaswani said the jury did not consider Dhurandhar the right choice to represent India at the Oscars. He also clarified that the selection of India’s official Oscar entry is not based on a film’s popularity or box-office collection. Instead, the jury considers how the film presents the country’s culture and identity as India’s official entry for the Oscars.

A total of 33 films were entered into this year’s Oscar race. The list included 14 Hindi films, four Marathi films, four Telugu films, four Gujarati films, three Tamil films, and one Malayalam and one Nagamese film.

Among the three films preferred by the jury were Gondhal, Angh and Main Wapas Aaunga. Ultimately, Santosh Davkhar’s Marathi film Gondhal was selected as India’s official entry. The film has been chosen to represent India in the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards in 2027.

Gondhal is a thriller based on Maharashtra’s traditional Gondhal art and religious rituals. Its story showcases local traditions, human emotions and the culture of rural Maharashtra, with this cultural connection regarded as one of the film’s key features.

Directed and written by Santosh Davkhar, the film features Kishor Kadam, Ishita Deshmukh, Yogesh Sohoni, Nishad Bhoir and Anuj Prabhu. The film has previously received recognition at various film festivals, while director Santosh Davkhar won the Silver Peacock Award at IFFI 2025. The selection marks an important moment for Marathi cinema.

Before Gondhal, Marathi films including Shwaas (2004), Harishchandrachi Factory (2009) and Court (2015) had represented India as the country’s official Oscar entries.

However, not being selected as India’s official entry does not mean that films such as Dhurandhar or Main Wapas Aaunga cannot independently apply for the Oscars. The process of selecting India’s official entry is different from the process of applying independently for an Academy Award. RRR is an example of this distinction, as the film won an Oscar in a specific category despite not being India’s official entry.

The jury’s explanation therefore places the selection of Gondhal in the context of the criteria used for India’s official Oscar entry, rather than a film’s popularity or box-office performance.